Krystal laughed along with her friends, joking around while tying her hair into a ponytail. The classes were already finished and as usual, she would be hanging around together to kill the time. They always sat at the same couch everyday, just to talk and have a meal together. She was getting her old life back. Her crazy American friends, university life, brown hair, her own home, Frisco, and, of course, freedom.

Since she came back to Frisco, her dad spoiled her in every way possible. Not that much difference from before actually. It was just that Minho was so strict with her that it cause her freedom felt overwhelmed. She could come home anytime she wanted to because her dad let her got her own car back. He even loosened up the food restriction for her as long as she agreed to go for therapy. And she did because she promised Minho in the first place.

The next morning after their ‘broke up’, Minho was already gone as he told her father beforehand. He had this urgent business at Busan and too important to be delayed even just for few hours. When she opened his room, it was already empty and untidy. He had to be in a rush. So their farewell was their pinky promise. No hug and no goodbye greetings. Let alone sending her to the airport.

And it felt like months when it was actually just around a month since she left Seoul. She loved Frisco more and there was no doubt about that. But it felt so weird when suddenly her life was moving without Minho’s over protectiveness, Sooyoung’s attentiveness, Sehun’s lame jokes, Taemin’s caring smile, Hara’s companion and even Sulli’s annoying talk. Whatever the reason was, she missed it.

Hara had been busy, but she was still contacting her. Sooyoung too, sometimes she would send texts, just to know how was Krystal doing. And apparently, her Dad was still in frequent contact with the Chois. There were times she caught her dad talking to Sooyoung or Minho about their business and most of the time, Sooyoung would ask to talk with her after work-talking finished. There was once when her dad passed her his phone because Minho wanted to talk. It was a week or so after she left, and he was just asking if she didn’t mind being called his fiancée by public. He didn’t want to receive those unwanted attention if the news of their separation broke off. Though she didn’t mind, he insisted that he wouldn’t face the media until, at least, she found someone else. Other that single call alone, they seldom kept in touch.

Minho really set her free.

“Wanna go to the club tonight, Krys?” Bryan, one of her classmates asked her. The others’ eyes were on her, anticipating.

“I’ll skip. Gonna have dinner with my dad,” she lied. Her Dad was having a business trip to Busan again. And she was kind of jealous of it.

“Oh, come on,” he chuckled. “Where’s the fun?”

Krystal laughed heartlessly and grabbed her back, ready to go home. She glanced at the gang. “Bye, guys. Have fun.”

Living with Choi family in Seoul influenced her a lot. She was no longer Krystal who enjoyed drinking and parties. She had been rejecting tons of invitations because she knew there would be alcohol and cigarettes involved. She was no longer spending her time out. She spent her days at home the most, and hospital once in a while. It was quite boring and lonely though. Her dad was busy as hell.

Being alone gave her a lot time to think about everything. She found what she wanted to do. What she wanted to be. She felt like she found herself again, like being reborn. She dyed her hair brown again, threw every clothes she owned again and remade her wardrobe. She felt so cheap, wearing all those skimpy clothes. She also found that she aspired to be the painter. The talent was just born with her. Only one thing remained unresolved. That was her feeling towards her ex-fiancé. It was a lie if she said that she wasn’t feeling any sadness when she had to leave Korea and being ‘dumped’. But she also felt relieved that she could finally living her present and letting go her past with him. The problem was, she couldn’t decide if she loved him or not. It was confusing, even for her.

She parked her car into the garage and rushed over inside, being greeted by her maid as she gave them her bag. She climbed to her room and picked up her palette, ready to paint again. She spent most of her times painting and she enjoyed it the most. Placing the canvas towards the veranda, she began her brush.

“Miss,” one of her maid knocked the opened door. “A call from Seoul.”

Who was it? Sooyoung? Hara? Or maybe… Minho? “Just tell them that Dad is in Busan,” she ordered.

“But it’s for you,” the maid informed her.

That was unusual. It was her dad who always got the calls from Korea. She wondered who it was. “I’ll pick it from here,” she pointed to her phone beside her bed and let the maid left.

With a heart pounding and slight nervousness, she picked it up. “Hello?”

“Hello,” a familiar voice greeted her ears.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“You’re home, oppa,” Jinri welcomed him as he walked pass the living room, heading to his room. She had been staying at Minho’s for the past days, helping him to watch his home. Now she was watching some movies with Sehun and Taemin.

He just went back from